Murder in a small town shakes Beason to its core

Wednesday

Sep 23, 2009 at 12:01 AMSep 23, 2009 at 11:01 PM

The tree-lined street that leads through the heart of this small Logan County town seems like a perfect slice of Americana. Dotted with quaint houses, flowers and brick buildings with faded white paint, Beason has the look and feel of a classic Anytown, USA. Everything is in its place and everything is as it should be. Everything except the house on the corner of Broadway Street. Inside the gray-blue house that sits next to a soybean field, the Raymond Gee family was discovered Monday, the victims of a mass murder.

Kevin Sampier

The tree-lined street that leads through the heart of this small Logan County town seems like a perfect slice of Americana.

Dotted with quaint houses, flowers and brick buildings with faded white paint, Beason has the look and feel of a classic Anytown, USA. Everything is in its place and everything is as it should be.

Everything except the house on the corner of Broadway Street.

Inside the gray-blue house that sits next to a soybean field, the Raymond Gee family was discovered Monday, the victims of a mass murder.

"You think of Chicago, Decatur, Peoria, big towns, that it can't be possible, but not Beason," said Genia Lock, who has lived here for 50 years. "It's like 'Oh my God. Not in Beason.' "

That sense of shock and disbelief echoed through the minds of residents Tuesday afternoon.